Remember how we were talking about the wackadoo, time-traveling last episode and our (or my, at least) struggle to keep everything straight? Well, one reader had a theory to offer about the last chapter of the episode, in which young Ted went running to his future wife's door, and voice-over Ted told his children how badly he would've liked an extra 45 days with her.

Ted did seem unusually weepy (even for him) in a way that had me wondering why the heck they'd gone so sappy. It's true (as far as I can remember, but PLEASE debunk this if I'm wrong) that he's never said anything that makes it abundantly clear that the mother is just in the next room. Right?

But man, oh, man, that would be one jaw-dropper of a series finale. Like, television-history-scale jaw-dropping. Would I be shocked? Certainly. Do I think it's likely to be the actual conclusion? I don't.

And yet...

It's not out of the question. Ted Mosby could be a widower. Wouldn't that be a kick in the butt after eight seasons of seeing him through lonely single times?

What do you think of this theory? Can you think of anything that totally disproves it?